Carla Carpenter

Professional Child Welfare Experience: Since 1997
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

As the Center’s Senior CQI/Data and Research Manager, Carla Carpenter, M.S.S.W., works to make data accessible and actionable for child welfare professionals and the Center staff serving them through development of user-friendly data visualization tools, project support for jurisdictions, and CQI presentations. Ms. Carpenter also serves as the Center’s lead for Child and Family Services Reviews. 

Before joining the Center, Ms. Carpenter served as the Child Welfare Director for the State of Ohio as Deputy Director of the Office of Families and Children at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. In this role, Ms. Carpenter was responsible for administration and oversight of child abuse prevention, protective services, foster care, and adoption services, as well as adult protection services across the state.

Ms. Carpenter served in various roles within the Office of Families and Children starting in 2010 as Statewide Differential Response Manager, managing the statewide implementation of Differential Response in Ohio’s child welfare system. Ms. Carpenter then served as Bureau Chief of Systems and Practice Advancement, managing the office’s statewide CQI initiative, county performance reviews, federal Child and Family Services Review, and the state’s Child and Family Services Plan and corresponding reporting.

Prior to her time with the Office of Families and Children, Ms. Carpenter served as Associate Director of the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy (now the Family and Youth Law Center) at Capital University Law School. She also brings broad experience working in a variety of direct services settings with families and children. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Capital University and a master’s degree in social work from Columbia University.